Simon snyder



Oct. 6, 1925. 1,555,886

S. SNYDER FEED-HEGULATING DEVICE FOR GHINDING MILLS Filed Nov. 2l, 1922 LL v E L Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,555,886 PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON SNYDER, OF MUNCY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO SPROUT, WLDR-ON & C0., OF MUNCY, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION F PENNSYLVANIA.

FEED-REGULATING DEVICE ron. GRINDING MILLS.

Application filed November 21J 1922.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMoN SNYDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muncy, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feed-Regulating Devices for Grinding Mills; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertai'ns to make and use the same.

This invention relates to feed controlling and regulating devices and more particularly to feed regulators and agitators used in connection with hoppers for delivering grain or other substances to various types and kinds of grinders, burrs, attrition mills, disc mills, hullers and cleaners.

One object of the invention is to provide, in combination with a feed hopper having a restricted passage and adjustable feed regulatin-g devices within and controlling the discharge from said passage, an agitating device consisting of a single disk of elliptical form obliquely arranged on a shaft within said passage and extending substantially the fu'l-l width thereof, together with means for adjusting said feed regulating device and. rotating said disk, all arranged in compact form so as to' occupy little space, and adapted to be used in various types of mills for grinding grain.

A further object isv to provide a device of i the character referred to, which will be simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which will effectually and continuously deliver grain orv other substances to the mill with regularity in the desiredk quantity so long asv the hopper itself' is kept supplied with the feeding material.

My invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference tothe accompanying drawings which are to be taken as a part. of this specification and then pointed out in the claims at thev end? of the description.

In: said drawings', Fig; l is a sectional. side elevation ofthe hop-per and associated elements, the mill being shown in. skeleton;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the same', taken onthe' line 2 2" ofv Fig. 1.;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the agitator drive mechanism taken on` they line 'i' 3-3- of Fig. 1;

Serial No. 602,391.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal elevation of the agitator; and

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view of one of the disk-like elements' shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, in which likel reference numerals are used to denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, l denotes an ordinary mill, the character of which is immaterial to the subjectmatter of this application. Over the receiving end or grain inlet of the mill, a hopper 2 is placed and suitably secured by bolts (not shown). The walls 0f the hopper con'- verge downwardly toward a center to provide a preferably cylindrical, constricted passage 3. v

A shaft 5 is journaled in bearings 4, which project from the outer side walls of said passage and upon said shaft is secured an agitating device comprising a hubk ortion 6 of sleeve-like form having rigi ly secured thereto or formed integrally therewith and obliquely arranged thereon a disk 7 of elliptical form extending substantially the full width of said passage from a point above the shaft: overlying oney end of said hub portion to a point below the shaft underlyin thel other end of said hubfp'ortion.;` said hu' portion being secured to the shaft by means of a set screw or screws 8 or equivalent fastening means so as to revolve therewith; and when the agitator is rotated it will sweep substantially entirely across said pas'- sage', thereby agitating and stirring the inaterial therein and discharging it through an opening provided there-for betweenV subjacent oppositely movable closurefplate's hereinafter described.

Said closure plates are sl'idfably fitted in slots or channels'formed the walls of the passa-gey 3 and they are each formed or provided on the underside thereof' with a rackbar portion which is engaged by one of a pair of disk-likel elementsy 10 fixed on a-y shaft l1 which extends through the passage 8 and is jiournaledy in bearings provided therefor in the walls of said passage; said shaft. having a hand controlI device or wheel 12 secured to one extended extremitythereof by which it may be rotated to move said closure plates. Said: disk-likel elements are obliquely arranged on the shaft or inclined in oppositev directions at an angle thereto-so as to cause the closure plates to separate when the shaft is rotated in one directionand to cause said plates to approach each other when the shaft is rotated in the opposite direction, and to this end said ele ments are each constructed in the form of a spiral or screw-thread encircling the shaft and terminating in co-incident endeportious 10b and 10 arran ged on opposite sides of a line passing vertically through the axis of the disk midway between said end portions, so that when the shaft makes a complete revolution the end portion of the spiral which is in engagement with a groove in the rack-bar will release vand at the Same time the other end portion willlengage the adjacent groove, thus .causing the closure plate to move either inwardly or outwardly, according to the direction in which the shaft is turned; the oppositely inclined arrangement of the disk-like elements causing the closure plates to move simultaneously in opposite directions, thereby opening or closing the space between the meeting ends of said plates through which the material is discharged, or increasing or decreasing the distance between said meeting ends for varying the size of the discharge opening therebetween.A As will be seen, the meeting ends of the closure plates are arranged in a vertical plane passing centrally through the disk 7, so that the discharge opening provided by separating said Vplates is centrally disposed with respect to said disk, whether the closure plates are more or less widely separated, and by reason of the elliptical form and oblique arrangement of the disk, it is adapted to act upon and discharge an equal amount of material at each side of the `passage in which it rotates during each complete revolution thereof.

One end of the shaft 5 is extended through a journal 4 and has a worm wheel or gear 13 keyed thereto, said gear being engaged by a worm gear 14:, the latter being keyed to a driven shaft 15 journaled within spaced radial and end ball thrust bearings 16 within a suitable protective housing 17 provided therefor.

Rotation is imparted to the shaft 15"by means of a pulley 18 keyed thereto at one end protruding through the housing 17, and an endless belt 19 traveling thereover, the latter being driven by the main shaft 2O of the mill 1. Suitable grease or oil cups are provided for the thrust bearings, gears and shafts to permit proper lubrication of the various parts at their bearing and friction points.

An veven running and noiseless driving mechanism which may be driven clockwise or counter-clockwise with equal efliciency is thus provided for imparting motion to the agitator which revolves within the passage 3, continuously disturbing the grain or stock supplied to the hopper and preventing any choking or congestion in the hopper feed passage, thus causing the grain to flow regularly therethrough, the closure plates 9 therebelow being properly adjusted with relation one to the other, to effect the desired opening at the base of the passage through which the grain will flow to the mill in a continuous feeding stream7 the quantity of flow dependent upon the neness and composition of the stock and the capacity of the mill, being controllable as the speed of the mill is accelerated or retarded, merely by turning the hand wheel 12 one way or the other to enlarge or decrease the central opening.

The speed ratio of the agitator shaft 5 to the main shaft 2() of the mill, is preferably about 2O to 1, as suchratiohas been found by experience to afford the maximum efficiency of the feeding device to vthe mill, but differing ratios may be adapted therebetween without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. s

Having thus described my invention, .what

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent of the United States'is:

1. The combination, in a feed regulating device for grinding mills, of .a hopper hav-- ing a depending restricted passage, a shaft extending through said passage, and an agitating device'on said shaft extending across said passage approximately the full Vwidth thereofv from a point above the shaft at one side of said passage to a point on the other side thereof blow the shaft; said device being of elliptical form and obliquely arranged on said shaft andirevoluble there-v with, and means for rotating said shaft. 2. In combination with a feed hopper haviing a depending restricted discharge pas-` sage and a driven shaft extending through said passage, an agitating device consisting of a single disk of elliptical form obliquely arranged on said shaft within saidpassagc and extending substantially .thefull width thereof, and adjustable feed. .regulating means within said passage for varyingl the amount of material that 'may throu h.

3. n a feed regulating device for grind* ing mills and the like, a hopper having'a` depending restricted discharge passage, a shaft extending through saidV passage, an agitating device comprising a-hub portion of sleeve-like form vfixed on'said shaft; said sleeve carrying a disk of elliptical form: obliquely arranged thereon lrigid therewith and extending across said passage from side to side thereof substantially its full' width, and means for rotating said shaft.

4L. In combination with a grinding mill, a feed hopper having a depending restricted passage and shaft bearingsV thereon, a shaft journaled in said bearings andan agitating device comprising a hub portion of sleeve,- like form secured on said shaftand having lpass theres.

rigid therewith obliquely arranged thereon a disk-like body of elliptical form extending obliquelj7 across said passage from side to side thereof from a point at one side overlying one end of said hub portion to a point at the other side underlying the other end of said hub portion, together with means for rotating said shaft.

5. In a feed regulator, a hopper having a depending restricted passage, a removable feed agitator comprising a hollow sleeve having a single disk obliquely arranged thereon extending approximately the full width of said restricted passage, and a shaft upon which said sleeve is mounted and adapted to rotate therewith, together with means for rotating said shaft in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction to continuously agitate the feed within the hopper as it is supplied thereto.

6. In combination with a feed hopper having a depending restricted passage, an agitating/device within said passage consisting of a single disk obliquely arranged on a shaft extending through said passage; said shaft being ournaled in bearings projecting from the outer side walls of said passage and having a worm-wheel thereon engaging a worm on a driving shaft extending substantially at right angles thereto and a housing for said worm and worm-wheel and for the bearings for said driving shaft; said housing being fixed to one of the bearings for said first named shaft.

7 In combination with a feed hopper having a discharge passage, a shaft extending through said passage and having an agitating device thereon, means for rotating said shaft, and means within said passage controlling the discharge of material therefrom; the latter means comprising oppositely movable closure plates slidably fitted in the side walls of said passage each having a series of grooves and intervening projections or teeth on the underside thereof, and a manually operated shaft extending through said passage and having obliquely arranged disks thereon each engaging a; groove betweer. adjacent teeth on one of said closure plates and adapted by conjoint camlike action to move said plates simultaneously in opposite directions.

8. In combination with a feed hopper having a depending restricted discharge passage, a shaft journaled in bearings projecting from the outer side walls of said passage, said shaft carrying an agitating device within said passage and having a worm-wheel thereon at one end engaging a worm on a driving shaft arranged beside said hopper substantially at right angles to the first named shaft; and a. housing secured to the projecting end of one of the bearings for said iirst named shaft and enclosing said driving shaft and its bearings and said worm-wheel and worm.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

SIMON SNYDER. 

